养老马

養老馬
yǎnglǎomǎ
idiom

Meanings

  1. 1 to keep the old horse
  2. 2 to look after those who once served well
  3. 3 to honor loyal contributors even after their usefulness ends

Examples

Gōngsī jiǎngjiu yǎnglǎomǎ, lǎo yuángōng tuìxiū hòu réng yǒu zhàogu.
The company believes in 'keeping the old horse' — veteran employees are still looked after in retirement.
Dāng lǐngdǎo de děi dǒng yǎnglǎomǎ de dàolǐ, bù néng yòng wán jiù diū.
A leader should understand 'looking after the old horse' — you can't just use people up and discard them.

Tips

history
From 《外传》: the noble Tian Zifang saw an old horse abandoned on the road and bought it back, saying a benevolent man would not discard those who gave their strength. Used ever since as the ethic of caring for loyal servants past their prime.

Stroke Order

yǎng
lǎo